Erasure poetry removes words, letters and punctuation from an existing text to create a new piece of work, one that not only stands on its own merit but also gives new meaning to the original passage. For the 2nd Annual Geist Erasure Poetry Contest, participants erased an excerpt from the novel How Should a Person Be? by acclaimed Canadian author Sheila Heti. The winning entries are listed below.

1st prize:

"Always the Procreant Urge of the World" by Mark Petrie

2nd prize:

"22 Tofu for Who are You on the Way to Heaven" by Frank Beltrano

3rd prize:

"Details" by Patrick Grace

Honourable mentions:

"Erasure Haiku" by Lucy Bacon

"The Red Wagon" by Elmer Wiens

Longlist:

"Now They Want a Singing Competition" by Annik Adey-Babinski

"Tetchy Sketch" by Adrienne Stevenson

"Neighbo(u)rs" by Neily Jennings

"Chin Up, Alice B, /w Love from Gertrude" by Karen Massey

Many thanks to everyone who submitted an entry!

Read the top three winners in print in Geist 87, on newsstands now.

Sign up for the Geist newsletter to receive updates on all our writing competitions.